By Jonathan Morales

2023年10月9日

自从今年5月从博彩平台获得摄影学位以来，查尔斯·维克多把大部分时间都花在了创业上。 他说，他的大部分作品都是在工作室这样的受控环境中进行的，在那里人们会意识到他在捕捉他们的形象。

So, when he first walked into Recovery Café, a West 萨克拉门托 safe space for people who have experienced trauma to enjoy a meal, learn life skills, or just socialize and support each other, he had to do something he wasn’t used to – he had to leave his camera in the bag.

“I realized quickly – the opposite of what I do professionally – is no one is expecting photography,” he said. “I had to earn people’s trust in a different way.”

Victor is one of seven new 囊状态 alums who have been taking photographs for the Yolo Food Bank’s partner nonprofit organizations, gaining crucial experience and contacts while providing the often cash-strapped nonprofits with professional-quality images they can use for marketing and fundraising.

The partnership is the latest effort by Assistant Professor of Photography Eliza Gregory to not only teach students technical skills, but to take “a step toward my personal goal of trying to build bridges for our graduates to professional practice after graduation,” Gregory said.

The photographers’ work has two components. 第一种是实用的：拍摄纪实风格的图片，让非营利组织可以很容易地在网站、宣传材料和报告以及其他地方使用。

The second part gives them the freedom to capture images they think are important based on what they’ve seen and heard, doing so artistically if they are inclined: food items scanned against a black background, for example, or stylized close-up images of a client’s face.

当这个项目本月结束时，非营利组织和Yolo食品银行将拥有三个月的独家使用权。 然后，艺术家们可以将他们的作品提交到其他场所。 每位艺术家将从食物银行获得1000美元。 他们的作品将于2025年7月在伍德兰的Barn画廊展出。

“My mission in making these partnerships is to build capacity in my students, but also build capacity in the nonprofit sector so they understand how to work with emerging artists,” Gregory said. “囊状态 alums just coming out of our program need support as they enter professional practice, so there is a lot of potential here for mutual benefit.”

摄影师们将于10月18日在Yolo食物银行举行的庆祝活动上提交他们的最终作品。

Karen Baker, the organization’s executive director, has liked what she has seen so far.

“Just the way they can tell our story, both with the food that we work with, but also the families, was really surprising,” she said. “I was really impressed.”

The need within the community for food and other services is “going through the roof, and yet people are not aware of that, and I need to get that story out there,” Baker said.

The food bank’s number of clients has risen by 20% since the start of the pandemic, she said, but data can only tell part of the story. 强大的图像可以使食品不安全等问题人性化，并建立共鸣，萨克州立大学的校友们已经完成了这项任务。

“I need to raise money, I need to raise supporters, and it all begins with being able to tell the story in a way that’s powerful and impactful, and touches their heart, and really helps them understand it,” Baker said. “And what you need are talented photographers with a lot of heart, and that’s what I noticed when I met these photographers. They not only had the artistry, but their compassion was just as incredible.”

The alumni will walk away from the job with two local contacts and references – the food bank and the nonprofit they worked with – as well as the skills developed while taking the photos.

约瑟夫·罗曼（Joseph Roman）于2021年毕业，获得摄影学位，一直在一家杂货店工作

商店，同时捡起摄影和画廊工作，他可以。 Yolo食品银行项目是他的第一份商业工作，他被分配到当地的外卖分会。

在过去的几个星期里，他拍摄了厨房、食品准备人员和该组织提供膳食的会堂。 这样做不仅增强了他的肖像技巧，还帮助他学会了如何更好地与他的主题联系。

“It’s definitely teaching me how to communicate, and I think that learning to communicate overall what I’m doing with the imagery will help me whether I’m doing fine art or commercial art,” Roman said.

格雷戈里说，这个项目的另一个重要部分是重新思考非营利组织如何向公众传达他们的使命。

“We are trying to tell stories that contain nuance and complexity,” she said. “We’re not looking to tell the same old story that objectifies people receiving services, receiving support. We want to try to tell new kinds of stories, where contradiction, emotion – true humanity – can come to the fore.”

Victor, the May graduate supporting Recovery Café, slowly brought his camera out, of course, learning to respect the space and the individuals, and whether they want their photographs taken.

他说，所有的艺术都可以阐明紧迫的问题，但图片有一种独特的力量，可以捕捉一个时刻或个人，并使其人性化。

“It’s not a painting or drawing of something that’s happening in real life. It’s an actual photograph,” Victor said. “That tangibility, I think, is really important in merging documentary and contemporary issues into art.”